Publishers Clearing House Obtains Blingo
In a logical marriage of complements, sweepstakes and direct marketing giant Publishers Clearing House (PCH) announced its acquisition of Blingo, Inc., the hybrid offspring of a Google-powered search engine and sweepstakes.
Andrew Goldberg, President and CEO of PCH, voiced his delight over the deal. “We are very excited to add Blingo’s Internet ‘search and win’ services to our rapidly growing online business.”
He added that “Blingo’s ‘search and win’ service is a perfect fit for our existing online customers and an opportunity to introduce PCH to a new audience.”
Frank Anderson, CEO of Blingo, concurred. “Publishers Clearing House, wish its sweepstakes experience, proven track record and resources, is the ideal partner for Blingo.”
PCH has given away nearly $200 million since it began utilizing sweepstakes in 1967 in order to draw more attention to its mailings business.
Blingo was created with the aim of merging two popular online activities: searching and sweepstakes. Users of Blingo’s search engine have the chance of winning one of a number of various prizes each time they run a query through the site.
During random times throughout each day Blingo will award prizes to the user running a search closest to the precise second that the prize is slated to be given. Users who are notified of their selection as the winner for that particular prize only have to inform Blingo where to send the prize. Users who get their friends to sign up will win whatever their friends win.
The new PCH and Blingo duo will make it a point to enhance the prize offerings on Blingo. The sweepstakes search engine is expected to give away more prizes each day, as well as offer bigger and better prizes for its users.
Blingo.com already displays the words “Publishers Clearing House presents” along with the PCH logo above the “PCHBlingo” in the main panel of the homepage.
The precise terms of the acquisition have not been revealed, though it is known to be a cash deal. Blingo will continue to be based in Mill Valley, California.
“Together we expect to grow Blingo significantly by making Blingo a fun and exciting experience for our customers,” said Anderson.
Sources:
http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.
jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20060710005289&newsLang=en
http://www.blingo.com/
